Closure
by zyxw
Summary: Hermione is Bobby Singer's daughter and must return to rescue her father and his friends. It's ten years after Voldemort's defeat and their's a new wizarding war being waged. Not a good summary but a good story. Very long one-shot! EDITED


DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT!

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><p>"You boys have been investigating for over a week now and you can't find any supernatural causes for those deaths," Bobby Singer practically growled at the two men in their early twenties who sat across the table from him drinking beers. "Did it ever cross your mind that it's something for the real authorities to handle?"<p>

"A hundred people have died Bobby!" an attractive man with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes protested. "Young people! Healthy people! They all died of heart failure and you think it's not supernatural?"

"Maybe it's environmental," the other man, with longer brown hair and brown eyes suggested. "Or they were poisoned."

"Not you too, Sam?" the first man groaned.

"Well, think about it, Dean, we can't find anything! Bobby's got a point."

"And I'm getting tired of being cooped up in this small house all day," Bobby added.

Just then the back door leading into the kitchen creaked open. All three men jumped up so fast they knocked theie chairs to the floor.

"Bobby?" a soft, feminine voice called in a light British accent. "Bobby, are you in here? Lumos." The sun was setting outside and Bobby Singer wasn't one to open the curtains and let in the beautiful sight. He also had a tendency to leave the lights off until they were absolutely necessary. Apparently, for this girl, it was absolutely necessary now. A small light came from the tip of a stick the girl held in her right hand.

Seeing the girl's mass of curly hair peak around the door, Bobby Singer stepped in front of Sam and Dean. "What are you doing here, Hermione? Why are you doing all this?"

"Hermione?" Sam asked. "As in your daughter Hermione?"

"So something is going on around here!" Dean confirmed.

"Of course there's something going on here, boy!" Bobby barked. "Young healthy people don't just keel over with undiagnosed heart problems! At least not that many!"

"But you said-" Dean started.

"I just didn't want you here when she came! She's dangerous!" Bobby interrupted.

"I'm only dangerous to Death Eaters," Hermione protested.

"What's a Death Eater?" Dean asked trying to position himself in front of Bobby, who kept pushing him aside.

"Don't listen to her!" Sam told them. "She's a demon! She'll say anything to get to us!"

"I am not a demon!" Hermione continued to protest. "I'm a witch."

"So you're one step away from becoming a demon," Dean reasoned, looking disappointed.

"Will you two just shut up?" Bobby barked, turning to Sam and Dean. "Hermione, why are you doing this? I realize you're mad at me but innocent people?"

"It's not me, Bobby! We both know you're not going to win any father of the year awards but I'm not mad at you anymore! And I'm definitely not doing this!" Hermione pleaded with him to understand.

"Who's doing it then?" he asked.

"Death Eaters," she told them again. "And they're after you! You need to come with me. I can keep you all safe!"

"I'll ask again," Dean said the muscles in his face and neck tensing, "what's a Death Eater?"

"I'm a Death Eater," a tall man in a black hooded cloak and silver mask sneered from behind her. Hermione jumped away as he made to grab her. She ran across the room toward the other three men, her wand still drawn she turned and raised it at the man who let out a cruel, bone chilling laugh. "Did you think that this was over just because you and your little boyfriends killed my Lord? Is that what you thought, mudblood?"

"Did you think that your son was just on vacation, Goyle?" Hermione barked back before her tone turned to teasing. "He squealed under torture! He squealed like a little piglet, told us everything! How do you think I knew where you were heading!"

"Where's Gregory?"

"Dead!" she sneered. "Him and his pathetic friend Crabbe! Maybe it'll teach you to leave my family alone!"

"Crucio!" the man yelled, pointing his wand at Hermione.

She immediately fell to the floor and started twitching. Her face was twisted in agony but she didn't scream. She stared up at Bobby with determination in her eye. "Take me hand," she mouthed to him as she reached both arms over her head, one toward Bobby and the other toward her wand.

Bobby did as he was told and took her hand. She looked to Sam and Dean but they didn't make any move to touch the twitching girl. "Do it!" Bobby ordered. "Grab her arm! NOW!"

They dove to the floor and each wrapped a hand around Hermione's arm as she managed to grab her wand with the other hand. She twisted her body so she was laying on her back as she pointed her wand at the Death Eater. "Sectum Sempra!" she mumbled before falling back to her stomach as a loud popping noise sounded from her shoulder. "Hold tight."

Blood splattered on their faces as they felt a painful pulling, squeezing sensation. Everything went black for only a second then as quickly as it started they fell to the ground on a dark, deserted city street.

"Hermione? Hermione?" Dean pleaded as he cradled Hermione in his arms. Unconscious, she only lay there limply with her left arm twisted in a very unnatural position.

Somewhere behind them a door creaked open and three sets of footsteps pounded toward them. "Mione?" a burly red head asked, falling to his knees near them and pulling Hermione from Dean's arms. "What happened?" he asked, taking charge.

"Something she called a Death Eater attacked my house," Bobby answered. "He cursed her."

"What curse?" the man that they now saw had only one ear asked as he stroked her hair away from her face.

"I don't know. How am I supposed to know about curses?" Bobby asked.

"What did he say?" another red head with burns covering most of his exposed skin asked. He was obviously getting frustrated but not as much as the other red head.

"Crucio?" Sam answered.

"How long did he hold it?"

"It's not like we were timing it!" Dean barked. "She was twitching on the floor. We didn't check our watches!"

"This is important!" the one eared red head practically growled as the still unconscious Hermione vomited.

"George!" the burn victim reprimanded before turning to the other men. "Best guess? Please!"

"I don't know…two…two and a half minutes," Sam answered again.

The third man's eyes grew large at this news and he gasped, drawing attention to himself.

"Neville," the man they now knew as George took charge again, "Wake Dean and Padma. Tell them what's happened and have them meet us in 'Mione's room. Then call Harry. He'll want to be here." Neville nodded and ran inside. "Charlie, get them inside," he continued as he stood, carrying Hermione bridal style across the street and disappearing between house number eleven and house number thirteen.

Charlie took a slip of paper from his back pocket and handed it to Bobby. "Read it silently then look up."

They all did as they were told and when they looked up again number twelve had appeared. "It's like magic," Sam whispered causing Charlie to laugh.

"It is magic. Hermione's a witch. In fact, everyone in this house is a witch or wizard. Not your kind though."

"Our kind?"

"Hermione told us about the demons and witches who get powers by selling their souls and all that stuff. We didn't have to do that. Our magic is just in us. We were born this way," he told them as they made their way into the house.

"How does that even work?" Sam asked out of scientific curiosity.

"More importantly," Dean interrupted, "Why did that guy react that way when he heard how long Hermione was twitching on the ground?"

Charlie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Crucio or the Cruciatus Curse is a torture curse. Neville's parents were tortured with it when he was a baby. They've been in hospital in what muggles call a permanent vegetative state ever since."

"Is that what's happening to Hermione?" Sam enquired.

"The curse was held on Neville's parents for about five minutes," Charlie replied. "At least that's what the healers estimated."

"So she could be fine?" Bobby spoke up.

Charlie made a face. "Possibly. The longer it's held, the worse the effects obviously. Like with any form of torture. But 'Mione's had that one used on her before. Nobody's even sure how many times or the total amount of time she's been under the curse…so there's no way of knowing what it will do to her this time.

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><p>"What the hell is going on, Bobby?" Dean asked as he paced the second floor hallway of the old townhouse. Young witches and wizards, very few that looked to be any older than he was, ran around the house fetching potions and bandages, sticking their heads into fireplaces and having conversations, preparing tea and snacks, looking at strange matching coins that they all seemed to wear around their necks. It seemed as though the entire house woke up when Neville woke Dean and Padma. Everyone was so busy that they didn't even seem to notice the newcomers standing in the hallway outside of Hermione's room.<p>

"I thought Hermione was taken by demons," Sam added.

"You assumed she was taken by demons," Bobby corrected.

"Then set us straight!" Dean ordered.

"Don't start yelling at me, Dean!" Bobby ordered. "I get that you had a little crush on her when you were kids but you were nine when she left."

"Little crush?" Dean countered. "Little crush, huh? It was never like that! She was my best friend! She was the only one that ever understood! My dad's weird obsessions, everything with Sammy, everything! She got it! It was never a crush."

"Dean when I found out what she was I got scared. I was afraid the other hunters wouldn't understand and they'd go after her. Then this witch and wizard came to the house and told me about this school that they worked at, where Hermione could be with her own kind. There was a muggle family willing to take her in as their own. I thought it was best for her."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Where is she?" they heard a man call from downstairs. "Where's 'Mione?" they heard the voice again as a messy raven haired man with dazzling green bespectacled eyes ran up the stairs, panting.

"Harry?" a pretty Indian girl asked, opening the door to Hermione's room. The occupants of the hall all stopped what they were doing as they got a look inside the room. Hermione was lying motionless in her bed as a black man wrapped bandages around her left arm. "She's in here. She's got a broken and dislocated arm. It was broken so bad that we have to use skele-gro when she wakes up. Dean's tending to it the muggle way now."

Harry didn't even wait for her to finish talking but burst through the door after she informed him where they were keeping Hermione. As she closed the door again they could see Harry kneeling next to a king sized bed, holding Hermione's good hand.

"They won't let you in," another man told them as everyone else got back to their business. "Dennis Creevey," he extended his hand.

"Why can't I go in there?" Bobby asked ignoring the man's outstretched hand. "I'm her father."

"'Mione started all this but Harry's kind of the unspoken and undisputed leader. Padma doesn't usually let anyone in to see her patients until they've woken up and she's cleared them medically but she doesn't bother to stop Harry. 'Mione either actually. As Harry's second in command she can have the run of the place if she wants. Neither of them uses it unless they're really worried." The man continued to ramble though no one was listening anymore.

"Dennis?" a man with an Irish accent called from down the hall. "I need you in the strategy room." Dennis ran off without another word.

"He means well," George told them as he came up toward them from the third floor. "Stayed loyal even after he lost his brother in the war. Took a few swings at Harry but stayed loyal to the Army. We set you up in a room up here. You'll have to share with Shay and Dean but they should be out for the better part of the day so you can sleep."

Bobby nodded and followed George up the stairs. "What war?" Sam asked as he and Dean also climbed the stairs.

"There's been a magical war going on in Europe for the better part of fifty years," Bobby answered for George.

"And you let her come here during it?" Dean practically growled.

"Dumbledore didn't give her much choice, did he?" George asked as he opened a door at the end of the long hallway.

"What do you mean?"

"There was a prophecy about 'Mione. Basically something about an American muggle born with a demon hunting father who could help Harry win his war."

"Harry? That little messy haired guy from the hallway?"

"He's tougher than he looks. Those three beds are for you lot. Come down to the main floor when you wake up and someone will fix you something to eat. It's very important that you don't leave through the front door. There's a small garden hidden in the back if you need fresh air but out front is exposed and dangerous."

Sam and Bobby fell asleep right away but Dean lay in bed, staring at the ceiling thinking about everything he thought he knew about the loss of his best friend from childhood. They were both twenty seven now. It had been eighteen years since the last time he'd seen her and he had been prepared to kill her when she walked into her childhood home the night before.

"Sh," a man warned as the door creaked open. "The muggles are staying in here. I just need to grab a few diagrams." Dean sat up in his bed and looked at the black man who he'd seen helping Hermione earlier, the man also named Dean. "Sorry, mate, did I wake you?"

"Couldn't sleep," he assured.

"Well come on downstairs then. No sense in laying up here all alone." Dean followed the other man down two flights of stairs to the first floor of the house and into a large room. "Used to be the Black family library," Wizard Dean explained.

"Who are the Blacks?"

"Notorious muggle hating wizard family but Sirius wasn't like the rest of them. He loved muggles and hated his family. He was Harry's godfather, left him everything when he was killed about eleven years ago. The Order of the Phoenix used this place as their Headquarters before they were all killed off in the last war. Now it's DA Headquarters." The wizard pointed to a portrait on the wall of a handsome man with dark brown hair who appeared to be sleeping against the frame. "That's Sirius."

Looking around the room Dean saw that two and a half of the four very large walls were covered in similar portraits. George was in the far corner where many portraits had red hair. He appeared to be talking to two of them.

"Dunno yet," George said. "He hasn't left their room since he got back."

The pretty teenaged looking girl nodded her head. "She just moved!" Dean told the other Dean.

"Magic mate," Wizard Dean reminded him as George continued his conversation.

"Her muggle friend said she was under the curse for two and a half minutes, about."

"Not good," a man who looked almost identical to George told him. "Neville's mum and dad went insane after five."

"Insane," Dean asked, barging his way across the room to George. "She could go insane?"

The rest of the red headed portraits woke with this. "Just because she could doesn't mean she will," the older red hair woman told him.

"That's my mum, Molly," George said pointing to her portrait. "Twin brother, Fred." He pointed to Fred who lifted a hand and waved. "Baby sister, Ginny." Ginny's portrait also waved at him. "Oldest brother, Bill."

"Good to meet you mate," Bill greeted.

"Younger brother, Ron." Ron nodded. "Everyone, this is Dean Winchester."

"'Mione's friend?" Ron asked.

Dean nodded.

"She used to talk about you all the time, mate," Ron tried to tell him but Dean had alreadyturned back to Molly.

"What do you mean by she could doesn't mean she will?"

"If anyone has the ability to fight the cruciatus curse, it's 'Mione," Ginny answered.

"If Ronald hadn't died," another woman's portrait began, "I'd swear that those three were invincible. Hermione, Harry and Ron survived a lot of impossible things over the years."

"This is the Wall of Fallen Heroes," George told him, gesturing to the many pictures and portraits. "Well Walls I guess. Every person on this wall died in this war, the last, or the one before that. That's Dad and Percy," he pointed to a moving picture. "Didn't have time to get their portraits painted before the final battle of the last war. Dumbledore made it a rule that every member of the Order and DA had to have their portraits painted. The portraits can still communicate with you after death. Pictures can't."

"What happened?" Harry barked as he slammed the door open. Many of the portraits opened their eyes as Harry stomped to the center of the far wall and stood in front of a blazing fire to address the entire room which had filled considerably since Dean began his conversation with the Weasley family. "Why the hell is Mione laying broken and unconscious in our bed?"

"She went to get her father and-" the messy Irishman from earlier that day began.

"Why was she alone?" Harry ordered, cutting him off.

"It was my fault," George spoke up from behind Dean. "She said it would be a simple trip. In and out in a few minutes and back with all three of them. She wanted to go alone and I agreed to let her."

Harry rounded on George, eyes blazing. "You agreed! Why the hell would you agree to that? You saw the signs! You knew it was dangerous!"

"Shut it!" Ron's portrait yelled from the wall. Harry walked toward it. "You know how stubborn she can be, mate! I'm sure it wasn't as simple as her saying 'Georgie, I want to go alone' and him letting her do it. She probably argued her case for hours and took off without him when he continued to fight her on it. If you take a second to calm down, you'll see it too."

"Sorry George," Harry mumbled.

"No apologies needed, mate. I'd react the same way situation reversed."

"How is she?" a black woman asked as she wrapped an arm around George's waist.

Harry sat on the couch allowing Wizard Dean to take the floor. "It's still too soon to tell as of now. We've ran diagnostic tests and there doesn't appear to be any permanent brain damage. Her arms pretty messed up from having it pulled by three different people when she apparated back to Headquarters. We can't heal it magically so we're waiting until she wakes to give her skele-gro. Other than that all we can do is keep her comfortable and wait for her to come back to us. Padma's with her now. We'll take shifts. A healer will be with her at all times."

Harry nodded before addressing the group again. "We're doubling the amount of people on each mission. From now on, no one leaves Headquarters alone. Pull Justin and Ernie from Moscow and bring them home. Bring Luna back from Italy as well. I want a full report on our double agent. Do we know who attacked Bobby Singer's house yet?"

"Someone she called Goyle," Dean spoke up.

"Who's he?" Harry asked as if he was noticing Dean for the first time that day.

"Dean Winchester," Wizard Dean answered. "Apparently he couldn't sleep."

Harry nodded. "Did you see if he got away?"

Dean shook his head. "She said something, cursed him, before she…apparated you called it…and blood splattered on us. She wasn't bleeding and none of us were either."

"Do you know what she said?"

"Sectum something? Semper?"

"Sempra?" Neville asked.

"That's it!" Dean answered.

"Neville, you and Charlie check it out," Harry ordered. "Actually, bring a few others with you. If the Death Eaters are looking for him they may still be there. Contact our American friends, clean it up, tell them to tighten security."

Neville nodded and he and Charlie exited the room whispering.

* * *

><p>It was the evening of their third day at what they now knew as Headquarters before they caught their next glimpse of Hermione. In that time they learned all about Dumbledore's Army, the now extinct Order of the Phoenix, the wizarding war that the two groups fought together in the late nineties, and the war that the DA was currently fighting against a new threat to their world. They still called themselves Death Eaters but now they were run by a young man named Malfoy, a man who hated Harry and Hermione more than words could describe.<p>

They also learned that everyone that lived at Headquarters, basically the whole of Dumbledore's Army, had lost their family in one of the wars. Charlie and George were brothers. Their parents and five siblings were killed in the final battle of the first war. Their sister was Harry's fiancé. Their youngest brother was Hermione's. Dennis was a muggle-born like Hermione. He was three years younger than she was and his older brother, Collin, died in the same battle as the Weasleys. Padma had a twin sister who was the first casualty in their current war, murdered only days after the other war ended. Dean's mother, step-father, and three younger sisters, all muggles, were killed because the new Death Eaters thought that they were hiding him when in reality they had no idea that he was in Ireland with his best friend, Seamus's, family. Seamus was a half-blood whose parents were killed while he and Dean were on a mission. Apparently one of the older Death Eaters wanted to marry his mother and was still angry when she chose a muggle instead. Hermione's adoptive parents were killed in much the same way as Dean's family. Everyone in this house had a sad story to tell.

The only one they hadn't heard yet was Harry's as he rarely left Hermione's room. When he did it was to eat meals or use the loo. He didn't speak to anyone and promptly returned to her side when he was done.

"I don't know what Harry will do if he loses her, too," Charlie had told them. "Don't know what George'll do either. I wasn't around much when they were in school together but 'Mione and Harry spent most of their breaks with my family. He thinks of them as his own brother and sister."

"Why do they share a room?" Sam asked.

"Yeah and didn't he say something about 'their bed' at the meeting the other day?" Dean added.

"It all started after their fourth year of school," George explained. "A friend died in front of Harry and he had nightmares about it for the rest of the term and most of summer. One night they stayed up late talking and fell asleep. Harry didn't have nightmares that night. The next night they slept on the couch in the library again."

"I heard they kept it up for two weeks before they were caught by mum and forced to sleep in their own beds," Charlie added, "but the nightmares came back worse…so bad he was having night terrors and waking up the whole house…so they set up a bed for them in the parlor and an adult slept in there too to keep an eye on them."

"Ron and Gin weren't happy about it," George told them.

"Weren't happy?" the pretty black woman they now knew as Angelina laughed as she sat next to George. "Ron was ready to assassinate Harry and Ginny wanted to hex Mione until they found out what was really going on. But their married now so why wouldn't they share a bed. George and I do."

Bobby choked on his stew. "Married?"

"Of course," the dreamy eyed blonde, spy handler they now knew as Luna replied. "Friday will be their fifth anniversary."

"What is this? An if-you-can't-be-with-the-one-you-love-love-the-one-your-with kind of place?" Bobby snapped.

"More of an if-you-can't-be-with-the-one-you-thought-you'd-spend-the-rest-of-your-life-with-be-with-the-only-other-person-in-the-world-that-makes-you-want-to-wake-up-in-the-morning kind of place," Angela corrected.

"It's how it happened for us," George seconded his wife. "She was engaged to my twin when he died but in Harry and Hermione's case it's more of a be-with-the-last-person-left-in-the-world-that-you-can't-live-without kind of place. They'd both be hurt if any of us died but if they lost each other I doubt they'd have a reason to go on anymore. They're best friends. They love each other."

"It doesn't bother you that your sister's fiancé married your brother's fiancé?" Dean asked.

"It was five years after they died. They make each other happy and it's what Ron and Ginny would've wanted," Charlie answered. "They saw it coming. They gave their blessing."

"Gave their blessing?" Sam asked. "Like before they died?"

"The pictures can talk," Dean explained. "It's the trippiest thing I've ever seen and I've seen some things." The witches and wizards in the room laughed.

Four sets of feet pounding down the stairs could be heard over the laughter. Looking around the room he saw that most of the DA had already entered the basement dining room. The only people missing were Dean, Padma, Harry, and Hermione.

"Hermione you shouldn't be out of bed!" they heard Padma calling.

"I've been in bed for three days! My entire body aches!" Hermione could be heard protesting.

"Your body aches as an after effect of the curse," Dean corrected more quietly as they approached the dining room.

"And you need to drink the skele-gro to fix your arm," Harry said as she burst through the door. "Please, love."

"I fully intend on doing just that," Hermione told them as she crossed the room. "Hey Shay! Exploding snaps tonight?"

"You got it, Mione," Seamus answered through a mouthful of food.

"Justin, I want a briefing on the Moscow mission by tomorrow morning," she continued.

"Yes, ma'am!" Justin Finch-Fletchly answered with a salute.

"Luna, how's our friend in Italy?"

"He gave me some great intell. I'll fill you in later," the dreamy eyed blonde told her friend who continued across the room and to the pantry where she reached to the top shelf.

"Really? Firewhiskey?" Padma protested.

"It calms the nerves," Hermione answered innocently. "You said so yourself last time I was hit with crucio."

Everyone else in the room went back to their meals, ignoring the scene around them. Everyone except their three guests.

"It also slows the effects of the skele-gro," Dean reprimanded.

"Come on," Seamus spoke up. "Give her a break. It's not like she'll be able to go on missions for a while anyway. She's got time to heal!"

"Thank you Shay," Hermione told him with a smile before turning to the three who followed her down the stairs. "Besides that I fully intend on drinking the entire bottle of skele-gro as requested. But if you expect me to drink that bile I need a chaser strong enough to kill the disgusting after taste, hence the whiskey." She poured a shot before chugging the bottle of liquid Dean offered. When she was on the final few swallows of the potion she reached for the shot glass of firewhiskey and threw it back before she even dropped the other bottle in the sink. "Ah," she sighed. "Much better." She turned to the table to find an empty seat. "Dean," she smiled as he stood. "Sammy!" Sam stood as well and she ran into their waiting arms.

"I thought you were getting away from the hunt, Sam?" Hermione asked as Harry ushered her into a seat near him as the head of the table. Angelina, George's wife, the pretty black woman, sat a bowl of beef stew in front of her.

"I tried," Sam explained. "Long, sad story."

"You'll hear a lot of those around here," Hermione replied as she ate. Harry stared at her the whole time as many in the room slowly began trickling out until Harry, Hermione, George, and the three muggle guests were the only people left in the room.

"Already have," Dean told her, smiling wide. "I can't believe you're alive!"

Hermione nodded sadly. "Neither can I."

"Please don't talk like that, love," Harry told her taking her hand on top of the table. His eyes were tender and trusting when he looked at her. No one who saw it could deny that this man loved this woman with his whole heart.

"You're right," Hermione relented leaning over and kissing Harry on the cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Is someone going to explain to me what's going on here?" Bobby asked, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"We've already told you everything we can about the Order and the DA," George stated, confused.

"You haven't told me anything about why that…thing…came to my house," Bobby persisted.

"'Mione's public enemy number two to them," Harry answered.

"Number two?" Sam asked.

"Harry's number one," Hermione enlightened them.

"Anyway, they already killed…well they already killed all known associates of everyone in the DA trying to find any of us," Harry continued.

"They went back to my parents' home and searched for clues to try to find me. They found my adoption papers instead," Hermione finished for him.

"How do you know that?" Bobby asked again.

"We have an…informant in their ranks," George answered as he began clearing the table. "He told us they were after you so we had to get to you first."

"'Mione?" Seamus asked sticking his head into the basement kitchen. "Snaps?"

Hermione bit her lip as she looked around the room. "Go," Harry told her releasing her hand. "I'll field the questions." She kissed him as she stood from the table and left the room.

"She's ditching us to play a game?" Dean asked remembering the game he'd witnessed the night before that left his eyebrows singed.

"Exploding Snaps is just a code from our school days that stuck. They're discussing strategy," Harry clarified as he too stood and helped George with the cleaning.

The room was quiet for ten minutes while Harry and George directed their wands to finish the cleaning. "Chess?" George finally asked as he pocketed his wand. "If you thought exploding snaps was fun, Dean, wait till you try wizard's chess," he continued leading the way out of the room.

"Am I going to lose any more facial hair?" Dean asked laughing.

"No explosions in this game, mate," Harry laughed as he followed the other men from the room. "You might get stabbed by a knight however."

"Stabbed?"

"Hurts about as much as a mosquito bite," George reassured as they made their way into the library where most of the Order had congregated for a rare leisurely evening together.

* * *

><p>"I have a question," Dean stated as he, Sam and Bobby followed George down the second story hallway toward the room George and Angelina shared. George simply nodded telling him to continue. "How long are you going to keep us here? We kind of have our own fight to get back to."<p>

"It shouldn't be much longer," George assured. "Charlie and Neville are going back tomorrow to clean things up and set up a protection detail with our American friends."

"You mean aurors?" Bobby asked. "Like that Kingsley man that came to pick Hermione up?"

George let out a bitter laugh. "We don't really trust the ministry or anyone associated with it," he answered as they reached the end of the hall and stopped. "They've screwed us over in the past. It's just easier to fight this war without them."

"You don't trust them?" Sam asked.

"No," George answered. "Don't trust them and can't rely on them when you need them. They're not necessarily bad but they're not good either. They're politicians, you know? Anyway, Angie's waiting for me. 'Mione's in there if you want to say goodnight," he told them. He had one hand on a doorknob and motioned to the room directly across the hall from him with the other.

Bobby turned and walked up the stairs without any further discussion. "What's his problem?" Dean asked. Sam simply shrugged as they knocked on the door George pointed out.

"Come in!" Seamus called from inside the room.

"Hey," Dean said with a smile as he pushed the door open and entered the dark room lit only by a table that seemed to have an illuminated world map on its surface.

Hermione, Seamus, and Luna sat around the table. It looked as though they'd just interrupted a serious discussion. There was little furniture in the room, just the table and a few small uncomfortable looking wooden chairs. There were more maps on two of the walls. There was another world map with push pins stuck in it and six others, one close up map of all fully inhabited continents. A third wall held nothing but floor to ceiling windows that were covered by curtains at the moment.

The fourth and final wall held many framed photographs. Some had a large "X" taped over them. Others didn't. It seemed to be split down the middle. The wall was labeled "Most Wanted".

"Bobby's not with you?" Hermione asked looking disappointed.

"No," Sam told her. "He went to bed already."

Hermione nodded. "This is the Strategy Room," she told them, changing the subject. "The world map on the wall shows Death Eater attacks. Black are past attacks, red are probable future attacks," she told them motioning toward one wall. "Continent maps are more detailed. If they're colored in green the threat has been neutralized."

"So South America's a good place to vacation?" Sam joked.

"We're working on clearing North American now," Seamus told him. "As you can see there are only three states and a small section of Canada still in the red."

"Too bad the three states are South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa," Hermione sighed, rubbing her eyes. "We'll clear it soon though. We have a sister organization in the states working on it. The light table," she continued motioning to the table in front of them, "is current DA missions."

"The Most Wanted Wall's pretty self-explanatory," Luna told them pushing a small figurine across the table from Rome to Florence. Hermione and Seamus nodded.

"So what's up?" Hermione asked as she leaned away from the table.

"We just wanted to see you before we go to sleep," Dean replied. "Are you going to bed? You don't look so good."

"That's the curse," she told them, nodding. "It takes a toll for days after. I was just about to head to bed myself. Harry's probably waiting." She stood from the table and pushed her chair against a wall. Hugging Sam, then Dean, she said her goodnights. "I have to get up early to field a call from our North American friends," she told Luna and Seamus before leaving the room. "Goodnight."

"Enjoying your stay?" Luna asked once Hermione was gone.

"Um…sure," Dean replied.

"It seems a lot less tense tonight," Sam commented.

"Mione's awake. There's less to be tense about," Seamus replied, standing as well and grabbing a roll of tape from the table top. "There aren't many of us fighting this war," he continued making his way to the Most Wanted Wall. "And we've all been friends for at least a decade. When one of us gets hurt it's a huge loss. Bigger than any loss the other side could suffer."

"We have more to fight for," Luna told them with a smile. "It's why we'll win. Half way," she finished also standing and pushing her chair to the wall and motioning to Seamus.

"Nineteen's still a long way to go," Seamus told her as he marked an "X" over the picture labeled 'Goyle Sr.'

"And yet it seems infinitely smaller than twenty, doesn't it? Goodnight, all," she said as she exited the room.

* * *

><p>Harry was lying in the bed staring at the ceiling when Hermione entered their bedroom. "Sorry," she apologized as she began to disrobe.<p>

"No need," he told her with a smile, lifting the blankets as in invitation for her to join him. After a few minutes of silence Harry rolled onto his stomach and held her face in both of his hands. "You promised," he told her with tears in his eyes. "I know we promised no DA talk in the bedroom but after the last time you were hit with that curse you promised me you wouldn't go on any more missions. Padma and Dean said your body can't handle it anymore!"

"I know," she told him, leaning forward to kiss him. "I just had to go myself. If anyone else went without me they never would've come and…I just had to go myself. I didn't think anyone would show up."

"You don't have to do this," he told her, falling back onto his back. "You can always go back with them," he continued with a sob evident in his voice. "We can bind your magic, obliviate you all. You can go back to the life you were born into. The life you were meant to have."

This time Hermione rolled onto her stomach to look him in the eye. "This is the life I was meant to have," she told him. "I left them eighteen years ago! You are my life. You and the DA, this house, this war."

"Mione…"

"Harry, I mean it! I love you! You're the only future I can imagine! It's not going to be like this forever."

"I just don't want you to stay because you know I can't go on without you."

"I want to stay because I can't go on without you!" she promised.

He kissed her on the forehead as she lay down beside him with her head on his chest.

* * *

><p>Everyone was in the kitchen, enjoying breakfast when Hermione came down the stairs and whispered something in Harry's ear. "Really?" he asked. She nodded. "Everyone!" Harry announced "Please join me in the strategy room!"<p>

All thirty DA members were there, having been called back from missions after the blitz attack on Hermione days earlier. Along with their three guests, they all walked the halls of Headquarters in excited whispers, following their two leaders up to the second floor and down the long hall before crowding into the small strategy room.

"What's going on Harry?" Dennis Creevey asked. Still smaller than everyone else despite his age, he was jumping up and down in the back, trying to get a glimpse of what could possibly have Hermione and Harry so excited.

Harry was about to answer when Seamus asked, "Really, mate?"

"Really!" Hermione replied. "I spoke with the North American and African units this morning!"

"Two more continents cleared!" Harry cheered and the rest of the room followed.

"And eight more Death Eaters eliminated," Hermione added, holding up the roll of tape. "Who would like to do the honors?"

"Dennis," Harry called. "It's only right."

The youngest member of the Army pushed his way to the front of the room. "Carrow?" he asked with tears in his eyes. Harry nodded and Dennis took the tape with trembling hands.

This went on seven more times. An Army member was called to cover the picture of a Death Eater who'd killed a loved one. It was done with tears and trembling hands. The last person to X out a picture was a Scottish man named Wood who said something about Travers and a girl named Katie.

"Now eleven is an infinitely smaller number," Seamus whispered to Luna when they were finished with the pictures. The entire room heard anyway.

"Eleven Death Eaters to cover four continents," Harry told them. Everyone was now leaving the room to return to their meals. "George, Charlie can I speak with you?" The three men lagged behind.

Hermione left the room with the rest but she, Dean Thomas, and Luna broke off on the first floor headed toward the library. "I need you two to go on a special mission for me," Hermione told them with tears in her eyes.

"You're going to obliviate them aren't you?" Luna asked.

Hermione nodded.

"You don't have to do that 'Mione," Dean told her. "North America is clear and they've been promised extra protection…"

"I'm not doing it for their safety," she assured him. "I'm doing it for their peace of mind. They know what I am now and what we're doing, everything I've been through. You don't know Sam and Dean like I do. They'll never stop worrying and they'll try to come back to rescue me. It's what they do. And Bobby will just blame himself and drown in his whiskey."

"What do you need us to do then?" Dean asked.

"Fix Bobby's house and make sure there are no remnants of me anywhere," Hermione instructed. "Then shrink Dean's car and Bobby's truck and bring them to New York City. Put them somewhere downtown and make sure to tell me where. Harry and I will handle the rest."

"We'll be back by dinner," Luna told her as they stepped into the floo.

* * *

><p>"Happy Anniversary!" Angelina greeted Harry and Hermione with hugs as they entered the dining room for dinner that night. The room was decorated for a party and the entire DA was there to celebrate.<p>

"Thank you," Hermione told them, blushing as she and Harry were ushered into the two seats at the end of the table. From across the room she caught Luna's eye and the blonde nodded once before returning to her food.

Angelina prepared a four course meal, and finished it with a large cake. Between the eating and the dancing it was midnight before the party broke up.

"Bobby, Sam, Dean," Harry called as everyone else cleared out of the room.

"Yeah?" Bobby asked, glaring at his son-in-law.

"We had your house fixed up," Hermione told him. "We're ready to take you back now."

"What if we don't want to go back yet?" Dean asked her.

"You need to, Dean," she urged. "You have people to protect and monsters to fight there just the same as we do here."

"But we don't want to leave you," Sam persisted. "It's dangerous…"

"I've got more protection than I know what to do with here," Hermione promised. "I'm not going on anymore missions. I'm safe."

Harry held the door to the back garden open for them and all five stepped into the night. "You're going to take good care of my little girl?" Bobby asked, acknowledging for the first time since they'd been there any sort of emotion for his daughter.

"I always have," Harry assured him.

Bobby nodded and took Hermione's hand. "Sam and Dean, you'll have to hold Harry's hand this time. I don't have the strength to apparate all of us."

They all did as they were told and within seconds they were in a dirty deserted alley in a busy city. The sun was setting, not that you could tell from all of the city lights. Hermione hugged each man, whispering that she loved him. As she hugged Dean she skillfully removed his wallet from his back pocket.

"Ready?" Harry asked. She nodded and together they lifted their wands at the men in front of them. "Obliviate."

The men assumed dazed appearances and were ushered to the sidewalk by Harry and Hermione. Just as they were positioned in front of a corner coffee shop the three hunters regained composure.

"You dropped this," Hermione told Dean holding out his wallet.

"Uh, thanks," Dean said taking his wallet from her hand and stuffing it in his back pocket. "Long way from home, aren't you?" he asked noticing the petite brunette's British accent.

"Yes, well, it's our fifth anniversary," Hermione told him wrapping an arm around Harry's waist. "We wanted to do something special."

"Are you ready to go, love?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded and together they turned.

"Thanks again," Dean called.

"Take care of yourselves," Hermione replied over her shoulder.

"You alright, love?" Harry asked as he guided her back to the alley they'd arrived in not ten minutes earlier.

"Never better," she promised, leaning on her toes to place a chaste kiss on his lips as she allowed him to take her home.

* * *

><p>an: Edited.


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